This invention relates to motor vehicle seats and more particularly to motor vehicle seats of the type which are removably mounted within the vehicle.
In various types of motor vehicles, including vehicles of the utility or of van type, it is common practice to provide rear passenger seats that can be readily removed from the vehicle to increase the cargo carrying capacity of the vehicle. Ideally, these seats are readily positioned in the vehicle in firm locking relationship to the vehicle and are readily removed from the vehicle by a simple, low effort operation on the part of the vehicle operator. Further, the seat should not generate any rattling or other noises when in its mounted position within the vehicle and should provide adequate anchoring support for the seat belts required for the seat passengers. Further, the seat should satisfy all of these requirements while yet maintaining a relatively lightweight construction so as to minimize the additional vehicle weight attributable to the seat and so as to simplify the seat removal and reinstallation process. Further, the overall seat structure, including the mechanism required to maintain the seat in its mounted position within the vehicle, should be relatively inexpensive so as not to add unduly to the overall cost of the total vehicle.
Various attempts have been made to provide movable vehicle seats satisfying all of the above requirements. However, each of the prior art removable seat constructions has satisfied certain of the above requirements only by compromising with respect to the remaining requirements. For example, removable seat constructions have been provided that are relatively inexpensive and relatively lightweight, but these constructions have been prone to rattling and/or have required a very difficult installation and removal procedure. As a further example, certain prior art removable seat constructions have satisfactorily addressed the problem of securely locking the seats in their mounted position within the vehicle, but only at the expense of providing an extremely heavy and expensive seat construction and/or a construction in which removal of the seat is extremely difficult.